Thank you so much.
Colleagues, welcome back to the full Seattle City Council meeting.
The July 6, 2021 meeting of the Seattle City Council will now come to order.
It is 2 o'clock p.m.
I'm Lorena Gonzalez, President of the Council.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
Peterson?
Here.
Sawant?
Present.
Herbold?
Here.
Juarez?
Here.
Lewis?
Present.
Morales?
Here.
Mosqueda.
Present.
And Council President Gonzalez.
Here.
Eight present.
Thank you so much.
Presentations.
I'm not aware of any presentations, so we will move to approval of the minutes.
The minutes of the city council meeting of June 28th, 2021 have been reviewed.
If there's no objection, the minutes will be signed.
Hearing no objection, the minutes are being signed.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the minutes?
If there's no objection, the introduction and referral calendar will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, the introduction and referral calendar is now adopted.
If there's no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, the agenda is now adopted.
Colleagues, at this time, we will open the remote public comment period for items on the city council agenda, introduction and referral calendar, and the council's work program.
I want to thank everyone for their ongoing patience and cooperation as we continue to operate this remote public comment system.
It does remain our strong intent to have remote public comment regularly included on meeting agendas.
However, as a reminder, the city council reserves the right to end or eliminate these public comment periods at any point if we deem that the system is being abused or is no longer suitable for allowing our meetings to be conducted efficiently and effectively.
I'll moderate the public comment period in the following manner.
The public comment period for this meeting is 20 minutes.
Today we have several speakers signed up to speak, so instead of allotting two minutes to each speaker, we're going to allot one minute and 30 seconds.
I think that will allow us to get through everybody who is pre-registered today.
If we run short on time in terms of the allotted 20 minutes, I'll make sure to extend the public comment to allow all those who signed up to speak.
Again, we have enough speakers pre-registered to merit a reduction of time from two minutes to one minute and 30 seconds.
But I think we can get through that in the allotted 20 minutes, as opposed to extending public comment at the top.
Okay, once speakers are going to be called on, again, in the order in which they pre-registered to provide public comment on the Council's website, each speaker is required to call in from the phone number that they used for this registration, and using the meeting phone number, ID, and passcode that was emailed to the speaker upon confirmation of that registration.
This is different than the general meeting listen line call-in information.
So again, public commenters, if you are listening, please double check that you are calling into the meeting phone number with the ID and passcode provided to you via email upon confirmation.
And you need to be calling in with the phone number that you use to re-register.
If you did not follow those instructions, you are going to show up as not present on my end on the public comment sign-up sheet.
If you do show up as not present on my end, I will make sure to call out your name and let you know that you are showing up as not present so that you have an opportunity to go back and look at your registration and make sure that you are calling in with the number that you registered with.
We do apologize in advance if there are any technological issues that are out of our control.
We will do our best to make sure that we can call on you once you do show up as present.
Again, I'll call on each speaker by name and in the order in which they registered on our council's website.
If you've not yet registered to speak but would like to, you can do so before the end of public comment by going to council's website at seattle.gov forward slash council.
The public comment link is also listed on today's agenda.
Once I call your name, staff will unmute your microphone and you are going to hear the automatic prompt if you have been unmuted.
That's your cue that it is your turn to speak, but you must press star six before we can hear you.
Please begin speaking by stating your name, the item that you are addressing.
And as a reminder, your comment should relate to an item on today's agenda, the introduction referral calendar, or the council's work program.
Speakers are going to hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of your allotted time.
Once you hear the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comment.
And if you do not wrap up your public comment within the allotted time period, then your microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.
Once you've completed your public comment, please disconnect from the line and you can follow today's meeting by watching Seattle Channel or dialing into one of the listening options listed on the agenda.
Public comment period is now open.
We will begin with the first speaker on the list.
Again, please remember to press star six after you hear the prompt of you have been unmuted.
First up is Howard Gale.
followed by Thomas Hudson, and then we will hear from Margo Stewart.
Howard, welcome.
Good afternoon.
Howard Gale, District 7. Police accountability is not justice, nor is it reform or defunding or abolition.
Accountability can be a part of those efforts, but it is its own necessary goal foundational to any other changes.
Until the 1980s, there was far too little accountability for drunk driving.
what changed withholding people accountable setting up systems and guarantees for accountability is fundamentally both an expression of societal values and a process that can then help shape those values thereby changing policies and expectations the same holds for women's rights civil rights sexual assault worker mistreatment eccentric is only by constantly making society where of the injustices and indicating society's condemnation via appropriate sanctions that society can then establish values and systems that strive for justice and reform.
Last November, other cities voted through the initiative process to radically reimagine police accountability.
In Portland, 82% of voters approved an initiative creating a civilian oversight body that will have full civilian control of police through civilians investigating complaints, setting policy, and imposing discipline directly.
A year after George Floyd's murder, the council has done nothing to advance accountability in Seattle.
The Public Safety Committee, with Herbold, Gonzalez, Lewis, Morales, and Sawant, have done worse than nothing to advance accountability, spending these last 14 months maintaining the fiction that Seattle has police accountability.
Visit seattlestop.org to learn how we can finally bring accountability to Seattle.
Thank you.
Next is Thomas Hudson, followed by Margo Stewart, and then we will hear from Jordan Quinn.
Thomas, welcome.
Hello, my name is Thomas and I would like to speak about how we should not allow our police to be trained by people who violate human rights.
The police have been founded from the beginning on violating human rights.
They were slave patrol.
And to this day, they still are.
Our 13th amendment allows slavery for prisoners and they have created partially, uh, with the help of the core system, uh, the world's largest prisoner population.
and that to me says it's clear that our police know how to violate human rights.
They do not need any more training from anyone on how to do it.
And any more training they receive from people who violate human rights are only going to help them violate more human rights, which is what we do not need.
I don't think we should allow our police department to be trained from anyone who violates human rights, and that includes Israel, Uh, we need to stand in solidarity with anyone who is having their human rights violated.
And we can do that by standing against anyone who violates their rights in every way we can.
And since we have such a large issue with police violating, we need to start by preventing that from happening.
Thank you for calling in, Thomas.
You did break up on us a little bit there towards the end, but I think we got the gist of what you were commenting about.
So thank you so much for taking the time to call in today.
Next up is Margo Stewart, followed by Jordan Quinn, and then we will hear from Matthew Wilder.
Margo, welcome.
Hi, my name is Margo.
I work in rent in the Central District, and I'm calling in favor of measures to end the deadly exchange, expand renters protections, and invest in the CD that have been championed by Councilmember Sawant and a broad grassroots movement of organizations, unions, working people, and renters.
I think especially in the context of the police brutality and tear gassing we saw in Capitol Hill last summer, ordinary people, and particularly marginalized groups in Seattle, need to be able to trust that police have not been trained in ways that make them a threat to community safety, And the exchange training program that top SBB officers have participated in over the past eight years with the Israeli Defense Force, which has been flagged for numerous human rights violations and its brutalization of the Palestinian people for decades, including just recently in the Sheikh Jarrah region, even after the ceasefire, is a blatant violation of community safety and needs to stop.
This is especially true given that there have been pictures of IDF officers employing the same knee-on-the-neck chokehold that was used to murder George Floyd last summer.
We need to end this deadly exchange, and we also need real democratic community control over our police force.
But in light of the recent heat wave and also the COVID crisis, public safety entails more than just that.
You know, it entails investing in affordable housing in our communities.
And because of this, I'm strongly in favor of initiatives by Council Member Sawant's office to use land from the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which the city forced the black church and working class community to sell 50 years ago in order to build affordable housing units for 87 households.
and also to invest in renovations to the Garfield Community Center in high school.
These measures should be funded by the money that was diverted from the FTP and through the Amazon tax, and we should expand big business taxes to further invest in quality social housing.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Jordan Quinn, followed by Matthew Wilder, and then we will hear from Guy Oren.
Jordan, welcome.
Hi, can you hear me?
We can hear you, go ahead.
Great, hi, I'm Jordan.
I'm a renter in district two and I'm a member of Socialist Alternative.
I'm calling because Seattle police should be banned from training or having any exchange with the military or police of any nation that violates the Geneva Conventions of the United Nations.
These are basic humanitarian standards that most countries have agreed to internationally for the last 70 years.
There's no reason why our police here in the Seattle Police Department should have any business bringing back tactics of war occupation to our streets.
Last summer, we saw 19,000 complaints of abusive force against the Seattle Police Department for attacking Black Lives Matter protesters.
And the same department admitted that in the last eight years, they sent top officers, including the former police chief, Carmen Best, to train with the Israeli police and military forces.
The same forces that are carrying out a brutal occupation against Palestinian people, were roundly condemned worldwide by unions and faith and community groups all around the world for their brutal military assault on Gaza earlier this year.
The city council has an obligation to support the legislation that council member Sawant's office is going to be bringing forward.
And I thank council member Sawant for bringing it forward in solidarity with the community and labor organizations to end the deadly exchange.
Thanks.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Matthew Wilder, followed by Guy Orone, and then we will hear from Yvette Dinesh.
Matthew, welcome.
Hi, my name is Matt.
I'm a renter in District 3, and I'm calling in support of the ban on Seattle Police Department training with the military police forces in nation states that have violated the Geneva Conventions.
I think last year, the Black Lives Matter movement put a spotlight on the role that the police play in society and All across the country, police in Democratic Party-run cities brutally repressed the movement with flax balls, tear gas, and rubber bullets.
I remember last year here in Seattle, tear gas getting into people's apartments because there was just so much being fired.
But yeah, I think it's super important, especially here in a city with the largest known number of police officers attending the January 6th riots.
It's super important that we aren't having the police officers in this city trained with militaries and police departments that have violated the Geneva Conventions.
And then ultimately, we need a democratically elected Police Oversight Board to really put real police accountability in our hands.
Thanks.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Guy Oron, followed by Yvette Dinesh, followed by Blythe Serrano.
Guy, welcome.
Hello there.
My name is Guy Oron.
I'm a local District 5 resident and calling in support of legislation to end the deadly exchange between the Seattle Police Department and any military or police force around the world that violates human rights, including but not limited to Israel.
As previous commenters have mentioned, we should hold our police department to a high standard, including international human rights law and humanitarian law, and not train with any country that violates those basic laws.
Uh, this is about demilitarizing our police and bringing safety back to the community, letting communities, especially black and Brown communities in our city, take charge of what safety and community health really looks like.
Please support legislation to ban the deadly exchange.
Um, we want all the city council members to join, not just trauma.
We really appreciate trauma.
Spearheading this legislation, but really want all the city council members to join this effort.
Thank you and have a good day.
Bye.
Thank you for calling in.
Next up is Yvette Dinesh followed by Blythe Serrano followed by Grayson Van Arsdale.
Yvette, welcome.
Good afternoon.
My name is Yvette Dinesh.
It's been a while since I've been at a council meeting.
And prior to this, it was about the homeless situation.
What I'm requesting now is how do we find without going through a huge pile of paperwork, succinctly what the council spent over the last couple of years on homelessness, not just this housing.
What services are being provided?
I recollect that also has not been any accountability from the homeless service providers as far as where the money's going.
So how do we do that?
I appreciate the time.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Blythe Serrano, followed by Grayson Van Arsdale, and then we will hear from Madeline Olson.
Blythe, welcome.
And Blythe, please remember to press star six so we can hear you.
Hi, can you hear me now?
We can hear you now.
Go ahead.
Awesome.
Sorry about that.
Press star six, but I guess it didn't go through.
Um, anyway, hi, my name is slice.
I work in rent in the central district.
Um, and I'm calling in to urge the council to stop delaying council members to want legislation to decriminalize psychedelic drugs.
Uh, research has shown that many psychedelics have the potential to be extremely effective in the treatment of PTSD, depression and addiction.
And as someone who suffers from PTSD, I find it extremely frustrating that the full range of treatment options aren't available to me because the city instead chooses to uphold war on drugs era policies, which serve to criminalize black working people and the poor and contribute to the crisis of mass incarceration.
City Council and the Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Council Member Herbold, has delayed this bill from moving forward for almost two weeks now.
So I urge the council to stop the delays and immediately take up this legislation, which is supported by strong scientific research.
I also want to urge the Council to end the deadly exchange and ban SPD from training with countries that have violated international human rights, such as Israel.
SPD has admitted that they've sent top officers, including Carmen Best, to train with Israeli police and military, which is extremely troubling, because these are the same forces that have been brutally repressing the Palestinian people for decades.
We saw the impact of this training SPD received last summer, when they used rubber bullets and tear gas to brutalize peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters.
So again, I urge the City Council to support Council Member Swann's legislation to end SPD's collaboration with Israel and other nations that violate human rights, and also to stop delaying Council Member Swann's legislation to decriminalize psychedelics.
Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Grayson Van Arstel, followed by Madeline Olson, and then we will hear from Logan Swann.
Grayson, welcome.
Hi, I'm Grayson.
I work and rent in the Central District, and I'm calling in support of the legislation brought forward by Councilmember Salwant, banning Seattle Police from training or having exchange with the military or police of any nation violating the Geneva Conventions of the United Nations.
Last year, Seattle Police, along with many other police forces in Democrat-controlled cities, launched disturbingly violent offenses against peaceful protesters.
We need to hold police accountable, and along with this legislation, we need an elected community oversight board with full powers over the police.
Because I don't think we should have to legislate after the fact that our police shouldn't be training with the military that routinely violate human rights, although I'm glad that this legislation is being brought forward now.
I think there's no reason to delay on passing this legislation.
It seems like a pretty bare minimum watermark that the Seattle police aren't being educated by repressive forces that target civilians.
I also want to speak about the Garfield Superblock Project, which I'm really excited about.
I urge the council to support the July Supplemental Budget Amendment that Council Member Sawant has announced she's going to bring to use $500,000 of the 5.4 million that the council already voted to take out of the police department to invest in the Garfield Superblock project.
This is a concrete demand by the community and by the people's budget movement to shift funds from the police into urgently needed community projects.
I think we urgently need to defund the police by 50% and invest in critical public services.
And the Garfield Superblock is precisely the kind of public project that should be funded in neighborhoods like the Central District.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Madeline Olson, followed by Logan Swan, and then we'll hear from Daniel Cavanaugh.
Madeline, welcome.
Hi there.
Can you hear me okay?
We can.
Go ahead.
Great.
My name is Madeline.
I'm a renter up in Green Lake.
I'm calling in to urge the council to support the ban of FPD from training with human rights violators.
Israel has been found guilty of violating humanitarian rights of Palestinians committing war crimes against them.
We should not allow our police to be taking any lessons from any nation that violates the UN Geneva Convention.
Their determined humanitarian standards are the very basics of what we should consider what should be allowed.
The council has an obligation to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians that are facing such immense oppression and violence.
This ban is a first step to prove that resolve.
I want to thank Council Member Sawant for bringing this legislation forward.
Beyond this one ban, we need a full community control and accountability of the police, which is evident in the brutal attacks by police during the BLM uprising last year.
And as someone said before, you know, training under these human rights violators, you know, is really clearly tied to the violence that we see in our own communities.
So yeah, just really once again, urging you to please support banning STD from training with human rights violators.
Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today.
Next up is Logan Swan, followed by Daniel Cavanaugh, and then we will hear from Jack Francis.
Logan, welcome.
Hi, my name is Logan Swan.
I'm a District 2 renter and a union iron worker.
Yeah, I just want to urge all the council members to support the two upcoming renters' rights bills from council members to want.
or one of the bills requiring landlords to provide six months notice for rent increases.
The other bill mandating landlords providing relocation assistance when they raise the rents, they displaced their tenants with outrageous rent increases, which is the process of economic eviction.
And I think especially coming out after last year, hearing so many of the council members and a lot of discussion among people around addressing systemic racism, you know, with Seattle having been among the fastest rising rents for the past decade.
You know, we've seen South Seattle, you know, which District 2 is in, becoming more and more white, becoming the dominant demographic, you know, and the aspect of this with black household income being half of white households in Seattle, which is from the King County website, and that, you know, over five times, you know, black families are over five times more likely to be evicted.
These protections are absolutely a part of addressing systemic racism in the city in a way that, you know, that predominantly working class families and within that.
Thank you for calling in, Logan.
Next up is Daniel Cavanaugh, followed by Jack Francis, and then we will hear from Aidan Carroll.
Daniel, welcome.
Hey, my name's Dan.
I'm a member of Socialist Alternative and a renter in the Central District, and I want to support the legislation to ban the deadly exchange.
One previous commenter mentioned that the same neon neck chokehold that killed George Floyd has been practiced for years by the Israeli army.
I think it's also worth pointing out that a Seattle police officer last year used the same knee-on-neck chokeholds to detain somebody at a protest just days after George Floyd's death, and the Office of Police Accountability, so-called, did not take action.
So I think we absolutely need to stop, you know, Seattle police training with countries that have a history of human rights violations.
And I also urge council members to support the two upcoming renters' rights bills from Councilmember Sawant.
Seattle's landlords have raised rents an average of 18.7% between January and June of this year.
That's double the average rate of increase nationally.
And as Councilmember Sawant reported in the council briefing this morning, these rent hikes will cost a typical Seattle renter an additional $3,300 a year in increased rent.
So, you know, we need to pass these renter's rights bills and we need to fight for rent control without corporate loopholes.
And so I want to urge all the renters listening and join us September 18th at 4 p.m.
in Cal Anderson Park for our Rent Control Now rally so we can build this movement.
Thank you for calling in.
Next up is Jack Francis, followed by Aiden Carroll, and I have Jim Singe or Singee signed up, but showing up is not present.
So Jim, if you can hear me, double check that information that I mentioned at the top of public comment to make sure you are able to call in.
If you do, we'll make sure to give you your 90 seconds.
Next up is Jack.
Welcome.
Jack, just press star six so we can hear you.
One more time.
We had you for a second and then you went away.
Try one more time.
We were so close.
Once again, try one more time.
Star six.
Is this any better?
There we go.
Yep, we can hear you.
Go ahead, Jack.
Okay.
Sorry.
Just really quick.
I'm calling in to reiterate basically what everyone else has been saying.
Pass legislation that would ban police training that violates human rights.
Pass legislation that would increase rent protections for people, especially low income, BIPOC, marginalized people.
Defund the police more.
I yield the rest of my time.
Thank you for your time.
Thanks for calling in, Jack.
Next up is Aiden Carroll.
Again, Jim Singe is showing up, is not present, and then we'll hear from Anshan Burns.
Aidan, welcome.
Hi, Aidan from D6.
I agree with previous speakers that Seattle should have a civilian oversight board with teeth to criminalize psychedelics and renters' rights, so I'm calling today in support of the legislation to end the deadly exchange, as Jewish Voice for Peace has termed it, with nations in violation of the Geneva Conventions, including Israel in Palestine.
The deadly falsehood that violence against some communities will create security for others is perpetuated by the policies of both the U.S. and Israeli governments.
One of the most dangerous places where U.S. and Israeli regimes converge are in exchange programs that bring together police, ICE, border patrol, and FBI in the U.S. with soldiers, police, border agents, et cetera, from Israel.
In these programs, worst practices are shared to promote and extend discriminatory and repressive policing practices that already exist in both countries, including racial profiling, massive spying and surveillance, deportation, detention, and attacks on human rights defenders.
Thousands of the highest-ranking police officials and law enforcement executives across the country have participated in the exchange programs, primarily built as opportunities for law enforcement to learn counterterrorism tactics from Israeli military and police.
Although we know ending these exchanges will not end police violence or deportations in the U.S., abolish Israel's violations of Palestinian rights or terminate all security collusion between the U.S. and Israel, we must start somewhere.
It's important that we boycott in the holistic sense of Gandhi and non-cooperation, not even follow basic human rights conventions.
Six months ago to the day was the insurrection of the U.S.
Capitol to overthrow U.S. democracy.
Thank you for calling in.
Next up is Inshan Burns.
either so i want to speak in support of the proposed legislation by council members who want to decriminalize psychedelics uh...
like the criminalization of marijuana was in washington the criminalization of hallucinogens is a vestige of the failed war on drugs which i'm sure the couple should be aware with a national attempt to criminalize and target black communities america as well as the political enemies of the dixon administration and falling for the these trucks have the potential based on compelling research including local research from utah treatment of mental illnesses that are serious barriers to people in our communities.
And that research itself, while strong so far, is limited and difficult to carry out because of psychedelics highly illegal status.
I feel for one of the earlier commenters today can mention they had PTSD, and I think it's crucial that we do everything we can to encourage progressing recovery from depression, anxiety, similar illnesses that affect our communities.
with the recent relatively recent attempt by republicans and the state that to be criminalize some classes of drugs i think it's very important for seattle to push back against the progressive approach by recognizing the damage that continue criminalization can do to our most vulnerable communities we've seen how that the criminalization of marijuana has made it safer more easily regulated sector and i think it's common sense go the same way with similarly state or useful substance along those lines i've been following this legislation for a couple weeks and each time i hear about it the city council has deleted councilmember herbold who's who's the chair of the public safety commission was doing the same thing i've got a particularly disappointed uh...
so i really want to respect how to pick up that with
Thank you for calling in today.
OK, that is the last public comment or I have signed up for public comment today.
Just looking to our information and technology department to confirm that there are no other speakers waiting in the waiting room.
That is correct.
OK, so with that we will conclude public comment period and move to other items of business on our agenda and next up is payment of the bills.
Will the clerk please read the title?
Payment of bills, Council Bill 120116, an ordinance appropriating money to pay certain audited claims for the week of June 21st, 2021 through June 25th, 2021, and ordering the payment thereof.
Thank you, Madam Clerk.
I move to pass Council Bill 120116. Is there a second?
Second.
It's been moved and seconded.
The bill passed.
Are there any comments?
Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll on the passage of the bill?
Peterson.
Yes.
Sawant.
Yes.
Herbold.
Herbold.
Yes.
Juarez.
Aye.
Lewis.
Yes.
Morales.
Yes.
Mosqueda.
Aye.
And Council President Gonzalez.
Aye.
Eight in favor, none opposed.
The bill passes and the chair will sign it.
Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my behalf?
Committee reports.
Colleagues, there are no committee reports on today's agenda, so we are quickly moving to other business.
I understand that we do have some other business today, so I'm going to call on Council Member Morales first.
Hi, thank you, Council President.
I would like to request to be excused on Monday, July 26th and Monday, August 16th.
Hey, colleagues, if there's no objections, Council Member Morales will be excused on the dates indicated.
Okay, I don't hear any objections, so Council Member Morales, you are excused.
And then one other item of business, Council Member Herbold, you did miss, you were excused from this morning's council briefing proceedings.
There was an opportunity to sign on to a letter circulated by Council Member Peterson related to East Marginal Way and a raise grant request for improvements to that particular corridor.
I did want to give you an opportunity in open session to add your signature to the letter if you wish to do so.
Thank you so much.
Yes, I would like to take this opportunity to indicate my interest in signing the letter that Council Member Peterson brought forward this morning during briefings.
Great.
Okay.
We will add your signature.
So that is a eight council members adding their signature to that letter brought forward by Council Member Peterson.
Colleagues, is there any other further business to come before the council?
I'm not seeing any hands raised.
So that is the last item of business on today's agenda.
short city council meeting.
I suspect that that won't be the case in other council meetings moving forward.
Our next really scheduled city council meeting is on July 12, 2021 at 2 o'clock p.m.
That is it for us.
I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon.
We're adjourned.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
Bye-bye.